Many portable devices, such as notebook computers, have connectors on an exterior surface of the device to permit connection to other devices. For example, a notebook computer may have one or more Universal Serial Bus (USB) connectors on one or more of its side surfaces to permit connection of the notebook computer to a USB-compatible peripheral device. An example of such a peripheral device includes a memory device containing, for example, non-volatile memory. A peripheral device that is connected to a notebook computer typically protrudes away from the computer, thereby representing the possibility of being inadvertently hit as the computer is transported from one location to another. Hitting the peripheral device may cause the peripheral device to undesirably become disconnected from the computer or, worse, may cause damage to the peripheral device or computer. Accordingly, a user of the portable computer must be careful when transporting the computer that has a peripheral device connected thereto.